I’m going to try to keep this post lite because I feel that my previous posts have been somewhat on the negative side. I’m here to share my experiences good or bad, but maybe I’ve been too aggressive on how hard it is to be a new mom. With that, this past month has been relatively better!
Once we decided to move Theodore back into our room and in our bed, we’ve all been sleeping so much better. He’s still not sleeping through the night, but he is no longer waking up crying. He feeds and goes back to sleep and so do I. Sometimes he does wake up, but all he needs is a warm hand on his belly and he’s out again. This is worlds better than me running back and forth from his room. We’ve even managed to get him to bed easier and will few or no tears! I’m going to call this a success and we’re headed in the right direction.
Theodore is growing so fast and changing right before my eyes. Some mornings I wake up and I don’t even recognize him! He’s so much more of a boy than a baby now and that’s starting to freak me out. As hard as it was when he was so little, I’ll miss it.
He’s eating 2 solid meals a day now and loves to eat. I’m so thankful that eating has been easy so far. I prepare all his food aside from his oatmeal. I love knowing what he’s eating and watching his funny facial expressions when he tries something new! It’s such a joy to watch and experience these little life moments.
We celebrated our first Midsummer with our little love. He was so curious by the dancing and all the festivities! It was nice to share a fun day with our friends and their kids.
Daniel has been working through the summer, but he’ll be home with us the end of July, which makes me so excited. Being the caretaker of a small baby everyday is exhausting and having someone else that I can offload to is so much help. Even if it’s just to use the bathroom!
After 7 months, I feel that I’m slowly getting back to myself. Not everything, but small baby steps. One great benefit from breastfeeding is losing the baby weight. I weigh slightly less than I did before I was pregnant. And eating healthy so that the baby is getting all the nutrition he needs from the breastmilk has made me make better food choices. Too bad I still eat for 2! LOL!
Daniel and I have been able to spend a little bit more alone time together. And when I say a little bit, I mean like one hour at most together. Theodore doesn’t sleep well on his own and has a hard time getting into that deep sleep phase, so someone always has be nearby or laying next to him, which is usually me. So when I know that he’s hit his deep sleep, I can sneak away for a few to join Daniel as he watches the World Cup in silence or enjoy a cup of tea together. It doesn’t matter how tired we are we always end up talking about how cute Theodore is or how much we love him, or I’ll share something funny that happened with him that day. It makes these moments so precious and special. I’ve missed parts of us. Having a baby has definitely changed our relationship in many different ways. And for the better part of the year we have just been on “parent mode” and not “partner mode”. I take that back, Daniel has been doing his best at both. I’m more in mommy mode 24/7 so poor Daniel often gets left out. He doesn’t seem to mind and I love him for being so understanding.
One downside of being a new mom is that you can never get sick because it makes life miserable and 10 times harder. I got the flu a couple of weeks ago and I pride myself on having a strong immune system and the ability to fight off flus or colds quite easily. That was not the case this time. This time it took me out. I had a fever, sore throat, coughing and a stuffy/runny nose. It was the worst. Also, because it’s been such amazing weather in Sweden which is very uncharacteristic. So instead of enjoying the sunshine and taking Theodore out for long walks, I had to invoke the grandparent’s card and left him there for a few hours each day so I could rest (cough my lungs out). I was on the mend and feeling worlds better after a week, but a few bad nights and I’m back to feeling crappy again. And the annoying cough wakes poor Theodore up. So I try to suppress my cough which only makes it worse when it comes out. Daniel has been taking night duties while I cough it out in another room. He’s exhausted from not sleeping and then having to go to work and I’m exhausted from fighting the virus, still waking up to feed in the middle of night and then taking care of Theodore during the day. So rule of thumb now is to do whatever possible to stay healthy because Moms don’t get sick days off!
